With every family. For every child.
In a country like Australia, every child should start school ready to learn and leave school ready for life and work. Sadly we know that 20% of children do not start school ready, and children who start behind, stay behind. Every child has the best chance of starting school ready if they and their families receive the right support, at the right time. This means early and better integrated support across all areas of life – housing, income, child development and health, early years and education.
We must do more to recognise the leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders across the country to advance the interests of their children, young people and families. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are removed from their families at ten times the rate of non-Indigenous children, this is a national shame and we must commit to supporting the self-determination and advocacy work of our First Nations people as they work to ensure their children and young people have the opportunity to grow up well cared for and safe in family and community.
What happens if we don’t act?
The cost of late action is estimated at $15B annually in Australia (Teagher, Fox and Stafford, 2019).
When 20% of children and young people fail to prosper, not only do they and their families bear the cost – we all do!